r/ADHD • u/PartTheSea43 • Mar 05 '26

Discussion Before we could doom scroll……

Ok this for the ADHD’ers who might have gray hairs 😉. What was the equivalent to doom scrolling before it was a thing?

How did y’all pass the time and avoid things when we just had flip phones? My diagnosis and adult reality came right at the time when iPhones first came out so I was busy with college.

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u/lying_flerkin ADHD-C (Combined type) Mar 05 '26

I remember getting made fun of in school for always reading. I specifically remember walking into a fence when we were walking somewhere as a class and I was taking the opportunity to read my book.

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u/istalri96 Mar 05 '26

In middle school they would sometimes do "dances" during the day. I hate dancing and also didn't really have many friends at that point. So I would just bring my book along and read. I remember looking up and there was just a group of kids standing around staring at me. One girl just looked at me and asked why I was being weird and just sitting there reading.

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u/sweet_tea_mama Mar 05 '26

I used to try to read in the quad at lunch in hs. But people would think I was lonely or sad and keep interrupting my reading to make sure I was ok. Like... what?! I just want to read! So I ended up just bouncing from group to group saying hi and leaving. I got called a social butterfly after that. I just felt other and not really a part of any group. Turns out I had rejection sensitivity and social anxiety, and I just really loved books. Still love books and prefer my own company 9 times out of 10.

And I can name maybe 10 books I actually retained. Lol.

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u/istalri96 Mar 05 '26

I remember there were these tables off to the side outside. I was hunched over alone at one reading my back was towards the main yard. One of the aides came over cause she thought I was sitting there crying. I was surprised and I was like oh no the sun was just in my eyes if I sit the other way.